Thursday, September 10, 2015

We are in the midst of a federal election campaign and the leaders and parties on the left like Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau promising voters the moon. They don't say much about how these promises are going to be paid for. They spew lies trying to make you believe that we are living in a country that has gone downhill since the Conservatives took office in 2006. They want to make you believe we are all suffering as a result. The media party just goes along with that assumption. IT IS JUST NOT TRUE!

For instance, Unifor, the amalgamation of the old Canadian Auto
Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers, has
consistently run ads opposing the current Conservative federal
government. Their ads have been based on claims that Canada is
experiencing terrible economic times as a result of the policies of that
government. For example, according to these ads unemployment is at
horrendous levels and on the rise.Yet a glance at the actual data shows that the unemployment rate has
been steady at 6.8 per cent for several months – an enviably low rate
that most countries around the world would kill for. Another bogus
Unifor claim is that the federal government has cut health care
transfers to the provinces by $36 billion. In fact, the feds have merely
reduced the rate of growth of health care transfers from an
unsustainable 6 per cent per year to a more realistic 3 per cent per
year, still well in excess of inflation. Facts show that the federal
government will transfer $34 billion to the provinces this year for
health care, which represents 23 per cent of provincial health budgets,
up from 15 per cent in the late 1990s. Over the past decade federal
health transfers have increased 70 per cent – hardly a pittance. These
fabrications are only two of the many whoppers in the Unifor ads.In addition to reiterating the false claims of Unifor concerning
health care spending and other issues, the union-backed group Engage
Canada, which interestingly is an alliance of Liberal and New Democratic
Party interests, has made other inaccurate claims in its advertising.
For instance, they say tax measures introduced by the federal government
will merely benefit the rich. To choose one of these tax measures, the
enhanced contribution limits for Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), the
facts show quite the contrary. Currently about half of Canadians have
TFSAs, and 60 per cent of those who have maxed out their TFSAs earn less
than $60,000 annually – hardly the rich. Also, TFSAs are a great tool
for older Canadians for whom RRSPs are no longer useful.Another falsehood promoted by the left is that Canada has a pension
crisis with a majority of Canadians not saving enough for their
retirement. As noted by knowledgeable professionals such as tax expert
Jack Mintz of the University of Calgary and Morneau and Shepell actuary
Fred Vettese, no such crisis exists. Facts indicate that most Canadians
are well prepared for retirement and do not need another forced savings
plan such as higher CPP premiums or the very flawed Ontario Retirement
Pension Plan promoted by the Ontario government. The motivation behind
the unions’ and other left groups’ advocacy for more forced savings is
that it will mean more taxpayer funds in government hands to spend on
even higher pay and benefits for government workers and more funds for
pet government programs.

Why all the lies?

So why all of the fabrication and dishonesty from our brethren on the
left? One reason is that the left always thrives on misery and, despite
facts to the contrary, must constantly tell people they are doing badly,
should be doing better, are ill-treated, etc.

We live in a global community and there are things outside of government's control that have an impact on us. Like the price of oil for instance, OPEC does that. Geopolitical events like Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East.

If you consider other places in the world, we have it well off. Why spoil that?

Don't be fooled. Don't fall for the lies! Don't rely on the Mulcair and Trudeau or the media to give you the truth. Please do your homework. The truth is out there if you take a little time to find it. Visit sites like other conservative blogs and The Rebel Media. There you can find common sense.

Be careful of what you wish for, elections do have consequences. For instance in Alberta here voters wanted change and we got the NDP. Now we are starting to suffer with a lot of job losses and higher taxes.

On a Side Note
I've just got finished helping my brother lay his wife to rest after a
long battle with cancer. During times like these it makes you reflect on
what is really important in life. Good health and close family and
friends are what's the most important.
I don't know how much I will be posting in the coming weeks. I will be looking out for my brother for a while and I am having some surgery done a week from Monday. I don't know how I'll be feeling for a while afterward so just bear with me.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Just wanted to let you all know that I probably won't be putting up any new posts until later next week. I have to take a few days off. There has been a death in my family. Until then please visit others like Bluelikeyou and Crux of the Matter.
Also please visit The Rebel Media. That is a must if you want even a modicum of truth.

New NDP spending promise when fully implemented. This total does not even include 125 promises not yet costed. But even the NDP’s job killingthe hook for $8 billion. This means the NDP will impose massive tax hikes on Canadian families – on top of the tax hikes the NDP has already promised.

This is just a few items Mulcair needs to answer for. Then there's the $3 million his party stole for satellite offices they refuse to pay back. How can we trust Mulcair for the country's top job? Give your head a shake and take moment to think.

Can Canadians trust Thomas Mulcair with the country's top job? Mulcair's
image has been cleaned up by party strategists for the 2015 election,
but we've seen enough of his behaviour and attitude over the years to
make some judgement.

Despite an NDP election promise to cut school fees in half and eliminate
noon-hour supervision charges, the bills will remain as children head
back to school this week and Education Minister David Eggen’s office
reviews the annual payments.

A growing number of Albertans appear to be pessimistic about the
provincial economy and view cutting government spending — instead of
raising taxes or boosting expenditures — as the preferred option for
dealing with the budget deficit.The Mainstreet Research survey found just 21 per cent of Albertans
feel optimistic about the economy in the next year, a drop of 20
percentage points from May. Although 40 per cent said they felt good
about their household’s financial situation in the coming months, that
number has fallen 12 percentage points in the past three months.

Friday, August 28, 2015

The media party loves reporting a the horse race. The media polls that have come out lately would have you believe that Thomas Mulcair will be the next Prime Minister but wait a minute. We must take them as a grain of salt. Most of the time they don't tell you the real story. You have to look deeper to see what's really going on. Brian Lilley helps make sense of it all.

Samples can be too small in size or unrepresentative of the population

It's normally too expensive or time-consuming to survey everyone in population; thus, we must rely on samples to gauge the
opinions of everyone.
A reliable, scientific poll questions a large enough sample of people to ensure statistical accuracy and includes a representative
selection of respondents. Thus, a poll designed to represent American public opinion wouldn't be very reliable if it only
included 10 people or included only white males. It's rare that news reports will mention details of the information sample or
how the survey was conducted. Viewers and readers usually just take the poll results as fact. For example, what if I
reported a poll that said 96 percent of Americans are pro-choice?
This obviously doesn't reflect American public opinion, but if the source was a survey
of the feminist magazine Bitch readers,
the results would be understandable. A clever or sloppy journalist can obscure the source and portray public opinion in an
inaccurate way. Think about all the polls that are done today and how easy results can become unrepresentative. Web polls
exclude people without web access and those who don't visit that particular site. Polls also exclude those that don't have
the time or interest to respond. Think about TV polls. Fox generally has more conservative viewers;
CNN generally has more liberal
viewers. Thus, their polls results may be skewed to the conservative or liberal
side regardless of the issue. The chances for error or
bias are endless.

Polls can ask leading questions

Questions can be worded in a way that leads a respondent to an answer
that may or may not reflect his true feelings. For example,
I could ask the question "Do you want to stop the war in Iraq so the
lives of innocent civilians can be spared?" Virtually
every American wants to prevent innocent loss of life, so many
respondents may answer yes to this question, even if they
think the war is morally just. But reporters summarizing the results may
say "...95 percent of respondents answered yes when asked
if they wanted to stop the war". The questioner can also surround the
question with information that biases the answer. For
example, "Seventy percent of homeless shelter residents are single mothers and their children. Should the next fiscal budget
include an increase in funds to local shelters?" Respondents may believe the money is better spent on other areas, but the
extra information points people in the direction of one answer.

Polls can omit some of the possible answers, leading to either-or answers that don't reflect reality

Answers to poll questions are often more complicated that yes-no or among a small list of choices. For example, a poll may ask
"Do you support a war with Iran?" The only choices may be yes or no. But many people may say "Yes, but only if
they are making
nuclear weapons" or "Yes, but only if it is sanctioned by the U.N." Another example is a consumer confidence question that
asks, "Do you consider yourself rich or poor?" Many people will want to answer something in between, but that isn't a choice.

People recording survey results may be dishonest or sloppy in recording results

Whether the poll is done in person, by phone, by mail, or by web, a human being
usually has to eventually tally & report the results.
That causes problems for two reasons. One, a human is prone to mistakes. If you're tallying thousands of responses, you're
bound to make mistakes. Even if a computer handles the tally, computers are still programmed by humans. Second, the person
may be dishonest and wants to achieve a certain result. For example, assume I'm a passionate advocate for banning the death
penalty and am taking a phone survey. A strong poll result showing the public in favor of a death-penalty ban may
convince some politicians to take action. When taking a poll, it's easy for me to put some extra chalk marks in the
anti-death penalty column even when people are answering pro-death penalty in the phone calls. Eventually, I may just achieve
the poll result that I want.

Poll results can be presented in a misleading way

Most news stories don't present the raw data behind a poll and let you draw your own conclusion. Instead, the results will
be presented in summary format as part of an analysis article. For example, a poll question may ask "Do you support
military action to unseat the Islamic fundamentalist regime of Iran (Yes | No | Unsure)?" The raw data result may be: 29 percent
support, 28 percent oppose, 43 percent unsure. The correct conclusion to draw from this poll is that the public generally
hasn't made up its mind or needs more information. However, a biased reporter may selectively draw from the results and
give the wrong impression. For example, "The idea of military action against Iran is increasingly unpopular. A recent poll
concluded that only 29 percent support action, handcuffing the hawks of the Bush administration."

Even if polls are scientifically accurate and are done by unbiased,
profession polling organizations, there are still other problems
that make polls unreliable.

We may believe that polls tell us what Americans are thinking. But
polls also gauge the effectiveness of media spin — and contribute to it.
Opinion polls don’t just measure; they also manipulate, helping to
shape thoughts and tilting our perceptions of how most people think.
Polls routinely invite the respondents to choose from choices that
have already been prepared for them. Results hinge on the exact phrasing
of questions and the array of multiple-choice answers, as candid
players in the polling biz readily acknowledge

I'm not saying to discount the polls entirely. What I am saying though is to take a moment and examine them closely to see what they are really saying.